I took some pictures of the electric bike that I made last summer and added them to the photo gallery. Here are some cool stats:
Kit: Road Runner Conversion kit from Electric Rider
Motor: 750 watt DC Brushless
Controler: 48 Volt
Batteries: Four 10 Amp 12 Volt Sealed Lead Acid batteries (like what you find in computer UPS’)
Top Speed: 25MPH
Cursing Speed: 23MPH
Range: 10-15 Miles
Conventional Powertrain: Intact, 24 speed
The weather was nice outside this morning so I decided that I would ride my bike to campus for the first time. I left a full hour earlier than I would have if I were taking my car, just to make sure that I wasn’t late. The trip went surprisingly well: My average speed was 16.3 MPH. There was surprisingly low traffic volume on the road which made for a safer feeling ride. From the time I left my front door to get my bike to the time I sat down outside of my class room (I arrived early) it took about 45 minutes. Five minutes of that was pulling my bike out of the shed in my bike yard. Taking a car the same route results in a 37 minute commute from start to finish. It only took seven extra minutes on a 6.3 mile commute! Read more…
I’ve received my Toughbook and I have to say, I love it. It’s stronger than a rock and it works flawlessly. After completing all of my upgrades and buying an extra battery my total cost is just above $1000 for a CF-29. Each battery gives me between 4-7 hours of run time, meaning I can go for up to 14 hours without having to plug in to a wall. The reason that I got the Toughbook in the first place is two-fold. The first reason is that my previous laptop had broken and I wanted to get a replacement. The second reason is that I wanted something that got good battery life and would survive hundreds of bike trips, and maybe even a crash. I’ll be biking to school a lot this fall and I wanted a laptop that could keep up with me. Even with only one battery this laptop will be able to stay running for a full day of classes, and the extra battery will allow me to continue running for hours after my last class. Over all I am very happy with this laptop.